NEW ORLEANS — The Kerry Collins era had just ended. Marques Tuiasosopo long since had ceased to be a viable option.

It was time for the Raiders to make a splash at quarterback, find a long-term replacement for the retired Rich Gannon. Daunte Culpepper could be had in a trade. Drew Brees was available in free agency.

Few teams knew Brees as well as the Raiders. After all, he had torched them on numerous occasions in recent seasons as a member of the San Diego Chargers. Yet, the Raiders showed no interest in Brees because of his perceived lack of arm strength and a shoulder injury sustained at the end of the 2005 season.

Ultimately, the Raiders signed free agent Aaron Brooks, kept Tuiasosopo for a sixth season and let Brees fly to the New Orleans Saints.

For that, the Saints and the rest of the AFC West thank the Raiders. Brees enters Sunday's game against the Raiders as the league's top passer in terms of passing yards and in the top 10 in just about every other meaningful statistical category.

Brees, 29, also has more passing yards since he joined the Saints in 2006 than any other quarterback. Yes, that includes New England's Tom Brady and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning.

"Brees is as good as there is right now in football," Raiders coach Tom Cable said. "Statistically, he's the best guy. You really have to look at (him) and say, 'Hey, that's what you really want to become.' "

The Raiders could have solved a lot of problems by signing Brees way back when.

Sure, 30 other teams whiffed by not signing Brees. However, no other team was in as dire need of a starting quarterback as were the Raiders. And, no other team had as much reason to believe in Brees' ability.

"I don't remember them ever showing any interest," Brees said of the Raiders in a conference call last week. "There were some teams early on that showed some interest, but, in the end, the only ones that were serious about it were Miami and New Orleans.

"Obviously, at that time, coming off my shoulder (injury), I was just looking for somebody to believe in me and believe that I would come back. There weren't many of those teams out there."

It seemed logical that the Raiders would have shown interest, inasmuch as some of Brees' best games came against them.

On Oct. 31, 2004, Brees completed 22 of 25 passes for 281 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-14 victory in San Diego. Brees' incompletions came on two throwaways and one tipped pass at the line of scrimmage.

On Dec. 4, 2005, Brees completed 17 of 22 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-10 victory in San Diego.

Yet, like other teams, the Raiders viewed Brees, 6-foot and 209 pounds, as too short, too fragile and devoid of the arm strength necessary to make every throw desired.

Oh, how wrong they were. Even the Chargers no doubt have second thoughts about jettisoning Brees in favor of Philip Rivers.

Brees completed 65 percent of his 900 passes for 6,735 yards and 51 touchdowns in 31 games for the Chargers in 2004-05. He had only 22 passes intercepted and was sacked 45 times during that span.

His figures during his first two years with the Saints are otherworldly. He completed 66 percent of his 1,206 passes for 8,841 yards and 54 touchdowns in 32 games. He was intercepted 29 times and sacked only 34 times during that time.

"He's awesome, he really is," Cable said. "He gets his feet set, and he can just tear you apart. He's very good inside the pocket of moving and sliding around inside there, and his guys make plays for them. That's really the bottom line: They make plays."

No one knows just how good Brees can be. He is in the midst of yet another career year, even though the Saints are 2-3.

Brees' 1,673 yards passing put him on pace for 5,444 yards. Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino holds the single-season record with 5,084 yards in 1984.

As a result, Raiders defenders have been peppering cornerback DeAngelo Hall with questions about ways to defend against a Brees-led offense. Hall played against Brees four times the past two seasons as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.

"I just tell them, the thing that makes him so good is he has no favorites," Hall said. "A lot of guys, you know they're going to this guy. ... He doesn't mind spreading that ball around. That's what makes him so good."